EUROPE is ready to send an armed force to Libya to ensure delivery of humanitarian aid.

The proposal by the European Union to deploy the armed force to escort humanitarian aid drew an immediate warning from Muammar Gaddafi’s regime that this would be tantamount to a military operation. France’s foreign minister also said he was hostile to such a deployment. The new tactics seem to have been spurred by the continued deadlock after two months of fighting between Gaddafi’s army and rebel forces. There has also been growing international concern over the fate of the besieged rebel city of Misrata, where Nato has been unable to halt heavy shelling by Gaddafi’s forces.

The fighting in Libya has been deadlocked for the past month. Gaddafi is holding on in the west, while the rebels control the east. Nato airstrikes have kept Gaddafi loyalists in check, but the rebels, poorly trained groups with little military experience, have not been able to score military gains, either.

The EU could deploy an armed force to Libya within days to ensure the delivery of humanitarian supplies.